Our little weekend getaway to Riebeek Kasteel was two weeks ago but as internet was down in our apartment for so many days I’m only just now getting around sharing these photos with you. And it’s definitely worth talking about Riebeek Valley with its picturesque olive orchards and vineyards and the very welcoming small town atmosphere of Riebeek Kasteel. Despite the scorching heat that weekend, we completely fell in love with the place! Scroll down to see why.
The ‘shopping street’ is filled with original little shops, definitely worth a stroll around.
Each time you turn your head, there’s something unique that catches the eye. And they’re big on recycling in Riebeek Kasteel, that’s a bonus point!
As the name indicates, this fertile valley was ‘spotted’ by Commander Jan van Riebeeck during an inland expedition in the 17th century. This makes Riebeek Kasteel one of the oldest towns in South Africa. And the Royal Hotel where we stayed at is one of the oldest hotels in the country. Below is the instagram worthy colonial veranda – or stoep in South African – of the hotel. Great place for sipping your gin ‘n tonic – the hotel’s bar is known for its huge selection of gins.
On the culinary side, below are some of the dishes I had over the weekend. This is “tiger prawn candy floss” with mango and chili salsa.
And these are grilled goat cheese balls rolled in sundried tomato.
Breakfast at the Royal Hotel was homemade granola, fresh fruits and local honey. Oh, yes, they also have very good quality runny honey in the Riebeek Valley.
There are many shops offering olive oil based products for consumption as well as to pamper your body.
When you’ve had enough of olive oil tasting you can move over to wine tasting, of course.
We’ll certainly be back to the Riebeek Valley, the olive festival early May sounds really tempting…
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